In the past, firefighters have used step-in firefighting boots. These step-in boots have been stored with the firefighter's trousers which were pushed down around the boots. When a firefighter received an alarm, the firefighter removed shoes which were worn at the fire station. Then, in stocking covered feet, the firefighter stepped into the trousers and into step-in type boots. Then the trousers were pulled up to the waist and fastened around the waist.
This was a very efficient and quick way to don firefighter's boots and trousers. However, step-in boots offer little ankle support. They have to be flexible and roomy in the ankle area to permit easy step-in action. Fire departments were soon observing an unacceptable frequency of ankle injuries which occurred during firefighting. As a result, non-step-in lace-up type ankle support firefighter boots were introduced.
Firefighters began to wear the ankle support lace-up type of boots in the fire station so that they would be ready to respond when a fire alarm occurred.
Firefighters concurrently also were required to respond in firefighting coats and trousers, as a result of new firefighting regulations. Previously, some firefighters used coats alone with conventional trousers. Fire departments wearing the ankle support boots found they could not get their booted foot effectively into the trousers legs of firefighting trousers.
A firefighter wearing lace-up boots would take too much time to don the boots after an alarm, due to the fact that the ankle support lace-up boots required unlacing and removal before donning trousers and then required donning and lacing the boots. Fire departments are judged on the rate of response to an alarm. So rate of response is a very critical consideration. Therefore, a choice had to be made between non-ankle support slip-on boots (which permit too many injuries) or an excessive response time (removal of ankle support boots and putting on the trousers and then replacing the boots).
As a solution to the problem, wide trouser legs were considered. However, it was not practical to merely widen the leg portion of firefighter trousers in order to permit freedom of access of a booted foot. A wide trouser leg would interfere with natural walking and crawling movements of a firefighter. Such wide trouser legs would therefore increase the stress occurring in a firefighter during firefighting activity. It is known that stress is the major cause of death and injury of firefighters and attempts must be made to reduce stress in a firefighter.
Additionally, any solution to the problem must provide a fail-safe mechanism in the garments. A fail-safe mechanism is one which provides adequate protection of a firefighter even though the firefighter may not have the opportunity or time available to completely finish donning the firefighter's garments prior to firefighting.
Therefore, the problem solved in this invention is the creation of trousers which allow easy donning even by a firefighter who wears boots, and yet the trousers are not unnecessarily bulky, heavy or restrictive of movement.
Therefore, three problems are solved in this invention. Firefighter's trousers are provided which can be donned while the firefighter is wearing boots. There is ease of access into the trousers, while also the trousers are free from bulkiness. Furthermore, trousers of this invention are a portion of a system in which adequate protection of the firefighter is maintained and preserved even though the firefighter does not have the time or opportunity to operate all of the fastener or closure elements in the garments prior to firefighting.
It is an object of this invention to provide trousers for a firefighter which can be easily and readily donned while the firefighter is wearing boots. Thus, the firefighter does not need to remove boots which are being worn in the fire station. Thus, a firefighter can easily and quickly don the trousers and be prepared for firefighting.
Other objects and advantages of the firefighter's garment of this invention reside in the construction of parts, the combination thereof, the method of production and the mode of use, as will become more apparent from the following description.